NS-10s and being an industry standard

[Ermz]

I've been wondering for a while now why the NS-10s are so widely revered accross the industry. I've had a few chances in recent times to do some mixes on them and all I find is an over-abundance of mid-range... hardly the ideal mixing environment for me.

Is it the fact that they are so flat that our ears' unequal response in itself makes it seem wrong? Are they just designed to sound bad?

Don't get me wrong here, I know MANY great albums were done on these speakers, and all things can be useful once you 'learn' them. But my question is, why would you spend time learning these monitors, when they are so far displaced from the normal speaker sound, which a great majority of people will listen back on?

 

[Awake_In_Animosity]

When the NS-10's came out orignally, Yamaha gave away thounds of pairs of them to studios and stores all around the world to get them "out there" hence most bigger studios have a pair!

 

[metalkingdom]

When the NS-10's came out orignally, Yamaha gave away thounds of pairs of them to studios and stores all around the world to get them "out there" hence most bigger studios have a pair!

Hmmm...Never heard that one before.

Moonlapse, I posted an answer on this subject on JM's forum. Don't know if you saw it - two posts down from yours.

In a nutshell, good mixes on NS-10's translate well on nearly every system.

 

[Jeremy Krull]

Moonlapse you think the NS-10's are midrangey? you should hear the Auratones...you'll cry.

 

[Awake_In_Animosity]

I think if you make something sound good on NS-10's your doing a good job!

By the way, I was told that information from a guy who worked in Yamaha pro audio division for nearly 30 years!

 

[Jeremy Krull]

Yea, I kinda always thought if it was too easy to get a good sound, then there might be something fishy. The NS-10's make ya work haha

 

[Ermz]

Yeah, that seems to be the general sentiment. Thanks for confirming it, guys. Just seems weird to be forking out so much for 'bad' speakers... yet 'bad' in a 'good' way.

 

[Frank'nfurter]

I realy LOVE my NS-10M. And I must have a pair of these Auratone cubes.

 

[Frank'nfurter]

Look @ that. You can have a pair NS-10 in every price range.

NS-10 at Ebay

 

[A Gruesome Discovery]

The way I understand it is that the enhanced midrange of the NS10 forces you to actually cut more of the mids than you normally would, which ends up giving you that polished, radio-friendly "smiley" curve. It's a completely innacurrate representation of the actual sound, but it seems to be innacurrate in the most perfect way. Hence, the saying "If you can make it sound good on an NS10..." came to be. It's not because they sound crappy; a good mix on crappy speakers might just sound plain crappy across systems. It's the dishonest frequency curve that forces you to fix your mix.
I also heard they stopped making NS10's because the wood pulp they used for the cones came from trees that eventually became an endangered species. That's fairly cool of Yamaha to stop producing them out of environmental concern, because they could probably sell a boatload if the reissued it.

 

[metalkingdom]

That's fairly cool of Yamaha to stop producing them out of environmental concern, because they could probably sell a boatload if the reissued it.

I don't think that they were being "environmentally conscious". They ran out of wood, thus leaving them no choice.

 

[Ermz]

Hahah, that sounds about right. Either that or the environment groups got onto their asses about it.

 

[Exsanguis]

I learned on NS10's, and continue to use them every day. As everyone else said, they're hyped in just the right places, so if your mix sounds good on them, 99% of the time they'll be better on most other systems. One thing, though, is that the bass response kinda sucks if you're working on some lower stuff, so I'd suggest using a second, more "even" or accurate pair of monitors to switch between. Also, those Auratones are FANTASTIC. I do almost all my mono checks on those, and they're also the first speakers I go to when checking translation.

 

[A Gruesome Discovery]

I don't think that they were being "environmentally conscious". They ran out of wood, thus leaving them no choice.

That's probably more accurate, yes. The fact that they claim the discontinuation was due to environmental preservation is somewhat comforting, though; they could have just used a comparable wood pulp, continued to produce them, and still made a bundle of cash. Pros would probably be able to easily differentiate the quality of older and newer models, but if pros dictated the marketing landscape, companies like Behringer wouldn't exist. OH SNAP!
(just kidding; those spunky Germans are a-ok with me; half my rack is behringer!)

 

[Matt Smith]

Hmm...either that or they're just taking their time to cash in on a huge NS-10 re-release...

 

[Razorjack]

I've had a few chances in recent times to do some mixes on them and all I find is an over-abundance of mid-range... hardly the ideal mixing environment for me.

Most studios perform a mod to reduce the mid-range 'hump', someone posted a link about it some months ago.